Spiders overhead, spiders behind me, and another to the side.  Three of them bigger than my hand.  And what’s this - a second smaller spider in the same web behind the big banana guy, or is it a she?  The blue, blue sky behind the sparkle of the web strands, the color of the spider with a little muted flash (covered with my handkerchief) to light it’s bottom makes another spectacular photo.  Spiders’ displays have really been one of the star acts of nature’s performance here at Bear Island on Perocchi Grade Trail in Big Cypress N.P. (http://www.nps.gov/bicy/) in the Everglades north of Everglades City, Florida on the south west coast near the Gulf of Mexico and not far from Naples. Big Cypress is where I’ve tent camped for the whole month of February for the last eleven years.
    Arachnids are fascinating creatures to observe; they are so colorful and varied, and I see them all across the country from Florida to south west Arizona where I meandered last January to the end of April to find the warmth of the sun. In Organ Pipes Cactus National Monument one spider’s green color camouflaged it well enough in the leaves of flowers so it could pounce on the insects coming to drink sweet nectar, but became a meal themselves. There’re many more types, but there’s one thing for sure, if they get on me or I find them in my tent, they die! Anything else I’ll take the time to shoo or allow to escape from my tent, but death is my sure way of knowing the spider won’t be biting me as I sleep.
    Snakes fall in the same category.  Goodness knows I’ve been lucky never to have one of those in my tent!  I know they’ve been beneath it though. They are to be avoided, respected and given their space. That applies to snakes, spiders and, yeah, scorpions, too. A Wind Scorpion dropped on my arm one night as sat by my tent in Big Bend NP, Tx.  It was fast enough to get away after I brushed it off.  Snakes, and in particular the exotic Python, have altered my habits at Bear Island.  I used to walk in the saw grass in several inches of water to cross to see what the gator holes hold, but since the Pythons have been found here in increasing frequency, I stay on the dirt roads, where I can see my feet!  There’s no way I want to tangle with a ten-foot-plus snake in the middle of wet saw grass.  I or you can’t out run it and this is no place to get snake bit or constricted. Keeping safety in the back of my mind assures many happy days of enjoying nature. Be a risk taker and eventually it’ll catch up to you/me. An injury keeping me from doing what I want is not worth the chance, so I take it easy, slow down, and do a lot of what I do best:  nothing, get out of the way, shut up, don’t interfere and watch nature put on its show - and it does.
    This is the land of panthers, bears, eagles, wild pigs and more. It’s outstanding and Not To Be Missed!  I don’t need to say much about arachnids, though; the pictures will do the talking.  You can check out more of my macro and other photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/o.c.fotoguy2009.
    Let me put spiders in the Google search box to get some unusual facts, though.  OK, computer today would be nice. No my digicompu wars still go on, but I think I’m holding my own this summer. I’ve got a 30” monitor working to show my family photos on the beach to my customers.  If you’d like to set one up, give me a call at 410-289-7339 and check out examples of my work at PHOTOSAsYouWantThem.biz.
    As I wait I’m looking out my 28th Street office window over the bay and wonder what all those people on those boats are catching.  There’s always a cluster of them fishing at the end of Keyser Pt. Rd. in Cape Isle of Wight.  That’s just a little south of where Turville Creek meets the bay. I used to crab there. There’re few crabs there now, but I do get as many mussels as I can eat any time.  I like them plain, no onions or flavoring, just their own flavor. Whoops my stomach is talking to me; time for a break.
    I rode my bike to West O.C. this morning and got some Birch’s tomatoes grown in Rt. 611 sandy loam dirt. They’ll really compliment a bunch of cold steamed crabs from the bushel I caught Tuesday (I kept the 41 biggest ones, mostly 6ers!) in Money Bay near Deale Island where I kayak a couple miles back into the marsh. That, a mess of yellow squash dusted in whole wheat flour and fried in cholesterol free canola oil, and several ears of DelMarva Sweet corn will make quite a feast. Delicious! The computer has gone to sleep. Who knows if the web page came up, but now it’s HH.  Time for an ACB at some friendly 28th Street establishments.  If you are interested in Spider facts, it looks like www.pocanticohills.org/spiders/spiders2.htm is full of them - including all have eight eyes and the females don’t always eat their mates!!!  Keep them off of me is enough info to know.  Now, that was pure PRADDLE Alan Prell style!  Tell me who he is/was or what/where he’s doing or at now and I’ll buy you an ACB. Look for my straw hat. There’s a new one. I call it my Arizona Hat. It even has an Aravaca devil’s claw!  I’ll be at my favorite outdoor relaxing spots at MRs Sunday, Fager’s Deck Party Monday, the Holiday Inn Pool Bar, and Seacrets.